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Time to deliver onelection promises

T
he eighth EU referendum campaign in 25 years ended in a familiar 60-40 vote in favour of the fiscal compact treaty. On this occasion the debate was more focused, mainly because the No camp was unable to deploy its traditional arsenal of emotive arguments about abortion, military neutrality and the loss of Ireland’s only European commissioner.

Instead both sides had to argue about economics, and it soon became clear many in the No camp, especially independent and Sinn Fein TDs, had little grasp of the subject. Some eventually lapsed into attention-grabbing frolics — launching court cases, occupying buildings and writing “exclusive” newspaper articles — that had more to do with boosting their political brand than convincing voters. The Supreme Court has ruled that both sides in referendum campaigns must be given equal broadcast time, and some political groupings seem to have joined the No camp simply to get it.